In between the farmer’s market and our small town’s Arbor Day event we drove past a lemonade stand. It was the type of lemonade stand made up of a folding table, a red and blue toy cash register, and three bright eyed entrepreneurs under the age of eight, all madly waving to the passing cars. The hand printed sign promised great lemonade for 50 cents a cup and something about cookies.

me: Look! A lemonade stand!

husband: Do you want me to stop?

me: Yes! Long pause. No, it’s alright. Well, maybe.

husband: Shall I pull over and turn around?

me: Maybe.

husband: Pulls the car over and looks at me.

me: Well, it’s just that I read somewhere that you should never pass by a kid’s lemonade stand. We should turn back.

We were on a busy road and it took quite a while to do a U-turn. We parked in a nearby business complex parking lot, unbuckled the kids, and walked by the side of the road until we got to the lemonade stand. We bought two cups, one for each boy, and got free cookies for being their first customers.

An hour later we left, discreetly pouring the almost untouched lemonade in the bushes by our car. During the hour we may have made some new friends. Their children, who took a break from manning the lemonade stand to show off their pet chickens, bounce on their trampoline, and play pirates, hit it off with our boys. I had lovely but interrupted chats with the mom as she took cookies out of the oven, and checked on their sleeping baby. Husband and the dad of the lemonade kids also hit it off and I thought it was rather cute when they exchanged numbers.

It goes to show that sometimes you can make more than just lemonade from lemons.

Hehehe. Maybe this summer the boys could set up their own lemonade stand and I could have one next to it selling shots of vodka for $5 a piece. I don’t think the liquor board would look too fondly upon it though.